CITY  or  ST.  PAUL 

PUBLIC  LIBRARY 
BUILDING 


THE  movement  for  the  erection  of  a library  building  in  St.  Paul 
began  in  1912  with  an  offer  from  Mr.  James  J.  Hill  to  give  a sum 
of  $700,000  for  the  building  and  endowment  of  a reference  li- 
brary, and  make  it  a part  of  the  library  building,  if  the  city  would 
proceed  with  the  erection  of  the  building.  Funds  for  the  purchase  of  a 
site  were  at  once  raised  by  popular  subscription  and  bonds  voted  for 
the  erection  of  the  building.  Mr.  Electus  D.  Litchfield  of  New  York 
was  chosen  architect,  and  Mr.  Charles  C.  Soule  of  Brookline,  Mass.,  as 
advisory  library  expert.  In  1917  the  building  was  completed  at  a total 
of  more  than  a million  dollars. 

The  building  occupies  the  square  between  3d  and  4th  streets, 
and  between  Market  and  Washington  streets,  overlooking  the  Mississ- 
ippi river  on  the  south,  and  facing  Rice  Park  and  the  Post  Office  on 
the  north.  The  building  is  designed  in  the  general  spirit  of  the  Italian 
Renaissance,  and  is  constructed  of  selected  pink  Tennessee  marble,  with 
an  interior  finish  of  Mankato  stone,  known  as  vesta  gray.  The  wood- 
work is  maple,  so  treated  that  the  green  gray  stain  penetrates  through 
the  wood.  The  floors  of  the  three  principal  rooms  are  covered  by  cork 
tiles,  fourteen  cubic  inches  of  cork  being  compressed  into  one  cubic  inch 
and  filled  with  linseed  oil,  so  as  to  give  the  tiles  the  wearing  qualities  of 
marble  and  at  the  same  time  make  them  waterproof. 

The  entrance  lobby  of  the  building  is  decorated  by  a sculptured 
frieze  including  panels  containing  sculptural  figures  representing  the  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  literature,  art,  music,  dancing,  chemistry,  and  philosophy, 
together  with  groups  representing  instruction  in  the  various  arts  and 
sciences,  such  as  agriculture,  metal  working,  etc. ; also  the  following  in- 
scriptions,— on  the  southeast  wall — The  Public  library  of  the  City  of 
St.  Paul  founded  as  the  St.  Paul  Mercantile  Association,  September  1 8, 
1857;  on  the  southwest  wall — This  site  was  purchased  by  public  sub- 
scription. This  building  was  erected  by  the  City  in  the  year  1916;  on 
the  northwest  wall — Keep  fast  hold  of  instruction,  let  her  not  go,  keep 
her  for  she  is  thy  life.  Prov.  4:13.  Wisdom  is  the  principal  thing 
therefore  get  wisdom,  and  with  all  thy  getting  get  understanding. 
Prov.  4:7. 

The  elevator  doors  are  richly  decorated  in  Renaissance  designs  and 
contain  monograms  of  the  Library. 

At  the  right  of  the  entrance  is  the  Delivery  room;  at  the  left,  the 
Periodical  room.  The  ceilings  of  both  of  these  rooms  and  of  the  Refer- 
ence room  and  lobby  on  the  floor  above  were  decorated  by  Sherwin  & 
Berwin  of  New  York,  and  represent  work  of  the  12th  and  14th  cen- 
turies. 


The  decoration  of  the  ceiling  of  the  Delivery  room  is  for  the  most 
part  of  blue,  gray  and  silver  animated  by  medallions  in  full  color  de- 
picting the  Muses,  Graces,  Fates,  and  Furies,  painted  by  Lee  Woodward 
Zeigler,  director  of  the  St.  Paul  Institute  school  of  art.  The  titles  of 
these  figures  are  as  follows: 

On  the  small  engaged  beam  over  the  entrance,  on  the  side  of  the 
room  next  to  the  Delivery  Desk; 

Dionysus,  or  Bacchus. 

On  the  nine  beams,  next  to  the  delivery  desk; 

THE  MUSES: 

Clio,  muse  of  History. 

Urania,  muse  of  Astronomy. 

Melpomene,  muse  of  Tragedy. 

Thalia,  muse  of  Comedy. 

Terpsichore,  muse  of  Choral  Dancing. 

Calliope,  muse  of  Epic  Poetry. 

Erato,  muse  of  Love  Poetry. 

Euterpe,  muse  of  Lyric  Poetry. 

Polyhymnia,  muse  of  Sacred  Poetry 

On  the  side  next  to  Fourth  St.,  returning; 

THE  FURIES: 

Megaira,  typifying  Envy. 

Alecto,  typifying  Remorse. 

Tisiphone,  typifying  Vengeance. 

THE  FATES: 

Clotho,  who  Spins 

Lachesa,  who  Measures 

Atropos,  who  Cuts 

THE  GRACES: 

Thalia,  who  presides  over  Singing. 

Euphrosyne,  who  presides  over  the  Social  Dance. 

Agalia,  who  presides  over  the  Feast. 

And,  on  the  engaged  beam,  over  the  door; 

Hermes,  or  Mercury 

In  the  intermediate  space  between  the  medallions  and  the  ara- 
besques on  the  principal  sections  of  the  secondary  or  transverse  beams 
are  the  monograms  of  masters  of  painting,  together  with  the  initials  of 
the  architect,  the  builders,  and  the  decorators.  (Sherwin  & Berwin 
and  Frank  P.  Fairbanks.) 


| The  Thread  of  Life. 


3 0112  061 


917586 


The  ceiling  of  the  Periodical  room  is  similarly  decorated,  in  blue, 
grey,  and  gold.  The  transverse  structural  beams  carry  an  interlacement 
very  characteristic  of  the  best  work  of  the  Renaissance,  and  well  illus- 
trated in  the  decoration  of  the  library  of  the  Duomo  at  Siena.  This  in- 
terlacing is  interspersed  with  the  initials  of  the  library.  The  longitudinal 
beams  are  illuminated  by  a more  animated  detail  consisting  of  ara- 
besques and  printers  marks  or  initials. 

The  bookshelves,  tables,  and  chairs  in  this  room  are  also  notable 
examples  of  the  best  Renaissance  style. 

On  the  second  floor,  at  the  right,  is  the  General  reference  room, 
named  in  memory  of  the  Hon.  Greenleaf  Clark,  one  of  the  benefactors 
of  the  library.  In  the  ceiling  of  this  room  the  cartouche  in  the  central 
panel  bears  the  seal  of  the  library,  with  the  sword  of  St.  Paul  typifying 
the  City,  supported  by  books  and  torches. 


On  the  soffits  of  the  structural  beams  are  inscribed  the  names  of 
the  greatest  minds  of  ancient  Greece,  Italy,  Germany,  Holland,  France, 
and  England  as  follows,  from  left  to  right:  Homer,  Aristotle,  Plato, 

Cicero,  Virgil,  Socrates,  Ficimes,  Thucydides,  Leibnitz,  Fichte,  Kant, 
Hegel,  Wolff,  Zeller,  Spinoza,  Jacob,  Descartes,  Geulinx,  Malebranche, 
Regius,  Arnauld,  Voltaire,  Comte,  Hume,  Bacon,  Locke,  Raey,  Toland, 
Dante,  Galileo,  Da  Vinci. 

The  ornamented  panels  with  their  low  relief  and  very  joyous  ap- 
plication of  color  emulate  conspicuously  the  Italian  spirit  in  the  hand- 
ling of  richly  decorative  details. 


At  the  left  of  the  elevator  are  the  special  reference  rooms  devoted 
to  civics,  and  related  social  sciences,  industrial  arts,  and  fine  arts. 


On  the  third  floor,  at  the  right  is  the  accessions  room,  in  which 
books  are  ordered,  classified,  and  catalogued,  while  at  the  left  are  the 
Librarian’s  office,  the  staff  rooms,  and,  at  the  end  of  the  corridor,  the 
exhibition  room. 

On  the  basement  floor,  at  the  right  of  the  elevator,  is  the  news- 
paper room,  at  the  left,  and  at  the  end  of  the  corridor,  the  children’s 
room;  adjoining  the  latter,  on  the  south  side  of  the  corridor,  the  teach- 
ers’ and  parents’  room,  and  the  office  of  the  school  department;  and 
on  the  north  side  of  the  corridor,  the  library  auditorium. 

In  the  children’s  room  the  decoration  of  the  electroliers  and  of  the 
chairs  is  especially  to  be  noted. 

In  the  sub-basement  is  the  ventilating  machinery.  This  provides 
for  a change  of  air  in  the  building  every  six  minutes,  and  not  only  puri- 
fies the  air,  but  in  the  summer  months,  cools  it. 

The  east  wing  of  the  building  is  occupied  by  the  Hill  Reference 
library.  The  building  for  this  was  erected  by  Mr.  J.  J.  Hill.  The 
library  is  maintained  by  his  heirs. 


